


A Surprise at the Celebration

by All_About_the_Story



Category: The Shannara Chronicles (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-22 22:48:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13774239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/All_About_the_Story/pseuds/All_About_the_Story
Summary: Slight AU. Based after Season 1. The elves are celebrating saving the Ellcrys and the end of the war with the demons. Amberle and the other heroes stay in Arborlan for the festivities. Eretria isn't exactly happy with the arrangement, for now at least.





	A Surprise at the Celebration

Eretria stood in the corner of the giant ballroom in Arborlon in her usual Rover gear. The outfit she had worn for years, though she had at least left most of the more obvious of her weapons in her room, at Amberle’s request. She leaned nonchalantly against a wall, portraying an aura of utter boredom, though she found the whole event fascinating. From what she had seen of elves, most of them tended to be somber and high-strung. She would never imagine any of them having a fun bone in their bodies. In most ways, she was right, but it seemed that all of that somberness only hid their partying side, because after they had saved the Ellcrys and ended the demon threat, they threw one hell of a party. This was the third night, and she was only in one of the many, many parties that were still raging all over the Elven nation.  
She would have left ages ago. Skipped out. She’d done her part. Saved the bloody world. And still it was obvious that the elves either despised her or thought of her as an interesting exhibit at the zoo. She was ready to pack up and leave, indeed she had her bag slung over her shoulder and was heading toward the door when Amberle had placed a hand on her shoulder.  
“Were you going to leave?” Amberle asked in a hurt tone, that somehow tore at Eretria. “Without saying goodbye?”  
Eretria let out a sigh before turning, trying to keep her features in her usual peeved expression. “Goodbye,” she returned bluntly. “Happy now, Princess?” she asked sarcastically before turning for the door again. This time Amberle grabbed her arm and yanked her around. “But…Can’t you stay? At least for a little bit? You will always be welcome here.”  
Eretria rolled her eyes, forced to face Amberle. “Tell that to the goon squad, the council, and pretty much every elf in this damn city,” she grumbled.  
Amberle’s eyes saddened at that. “But…I want you here,” she said hesitantly.  
Eretria let out a long-suffering sigh before acquiescing. She was led to a large, decadent room across the hall from the princess’s own quarters. The council had disapproved of this arrangement, though Amberle would not take no for an answer. She’d been fitted with the finest clothing, dresses and the like, and fed the finest food. She even had her own servant, Iona something.   
This only left Eretria confused. She never wore the dresses and rarely saw anyone else. Amberle visited occasionally, but not as often as either of them would have liked. That led them to the festivities where Eretria stood in a corner, avoiding the dancing that was happening, though watching with bated breath. The third day was apparently organized by the new King Ander to look for a groom for the young princess. Eretria watched Amberle dance with many little elf lordlings all looking for her hand in marriage. She wore that same little coy smile, but never kept the same dance partner for very long.  
Despite that, it was still too long for Eretria. She felt her blood boiling inside at the sight, not even sure why. Her eyes flitted to Wil, who was clumsily trying to learn to dance with Amberle’s servant and friend, Catania. She smiled slightly at the sight, feeling her anger fade slightly.   
She looked back toward where Amberle had been moments before and was surprised to see her latest dance partner standing alone and confused, Amberle nowhere in sight. Eretria stood up from the wall and moved toward the food tables, thinking she may have gone there. Instead, she hadn’t gotten far before she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see a shy Amberle behind her, offering Eretria her hand. “May I have this dance?” Amberle asked hesitantly.  
Eretria looked at her awkwardly, shuffling her feet. “Uh…I…I don’t know any of your fancy elf dances, princess,” she started, seeing Amblerle’s face fall slightly, “but sure, why now?” she finished instead, trying for a smile to encourage Amberle. Why the hell had she done that? For some reason, she never wanted to upset Amberle. Not really. Teasing and the like was totally fine, but that looked like genuine pain. She took Amberle’s hand and the now smiling elf princess led her out onto the dance floor where they danced like two friends to the song that the minstrels were playing.  
Eretria was awkward, but Amberle was patient and more than willing to keep things slow to try and teach Eretria the steps. As the song came to a close, Eretria expected the elf to thank her for the dance and move on to her next partner...But she didn’t. She kept a firm hold on Eretria’s hand and pulled her a little closer as the next song started, a slow song that by the glint in Amberle’s eyes, Eretria was convinced she had known was coming up. She was pulled gently against the elf and they swayed in place  
Eretria licked her lips slightly, having to crane her neck a bit to look up at Amberle’s face. “So…Um…What happened with the little lordling search?” she asked softly. “Find someone to sweep you off your feet yet?” she asked, for some reason bitterness had crept into her tone. What was the problem with her?   
Amberle only laughed at the words. “Some were nice enough, but none of them were my type,” she said, trying to sound casual.  
Eretria raised an eyebrow at that. “Not your type? That last one was hot,” she commented.  
Amberle considered her cautiously. “Maybe, but I…uh…sort of had my eye on someone else,” she murmured.  
Eretria’s eyes darted over Amberle’s shoulder to Wil, who was watching the pair while he danced with Catania. Here it comes, she thought. Amberle going to talk about Wil this and Wil that. She liked the guy well enough, but she didn’t see whatever it was Amberle obviously saw in him.   
While all this flashed through her mind, suddenly a pair of lips tentatively met hers for the briefest of moments, tearing her attention back to the beautiful princess in front of her, shock written in her every expression. Amberle watched her awkwardly while Eretria’s mouth worked, unsure what just happened.  
Amberle’s face fell. “Oh…Uh…Sorry sorry,” she stammered out quickly. “I…I shouldn’t have done that,” she said, letting go of Eretria’s hand and trying to pull away and flee into the crowd, but the Rover wouldn’t let her go that easily. She pulled her back in and met Amberle’s lips for a hungry kiss, suddenly realizing how long she had subconsciously wanted to do that.  
They continue kissing and swaying through the whole song, not noticing for a few moments after the song has ended and everyone is clapping for the minstrels and the elves closest to them are beginning to notice the strange thing going on.  
Eretria is the first to pull back, glancing around at the eyes turning toward them, especially Wil’s. She bites her lip before looking back at Amberle. She immediately feels bad for putting Amberle in this position. She knows how traditional the elves are as a race. Loving a woman is one thing, and that woman being a human simply makes it worse. She hesitates before saying, “To be continued, Princess,” before breaking away and hurrying through the crowd and out of the ballroom.   
She stops on the outside to catch her breath. After a few moments a slow smile spreads over her face. She couldn’t wait to fulfill that promise. She quickly hurried off in the direction of her bedchamber.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey. Thanks for reading. This is my first story on AO3 and I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to leave a comment to tell me what you think.


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